SW Virginia News

No. 17 West Georgia Baseball Sweeps Series With 18-5 Win Over Emory & Henry Sunday

The No. 17 nationally-ranked University of West Georgia Baseball Team (20-4) completed the three-game sweep with a win over Emory & Henry College (8-19) Sunday afternoon. The Wolves scored 11 times in the seventh inning on their way to an 18-5 win.

The BasicsFINAL SCORE – No. 17 West Georgia 18, Emory & Henry 5LOCATION – Carrollton, GeorgiaVENUE – Grady Woodfin Cole FieldRECORDS – Emory & Henry (8-19, 2-7 SAC); West Georgia (20-4, 9-3 PBC)

How It HappenedE&H pushed across a run in the opening frame to take the 1-0 lead. Senior outfielder Tyler Bradley (Bessemer City, N.C.) laced a one-out triple into the right-centerfield gap and scored on a sacrifice fly from junior outfielder Wayne Mize (Salisbury, N.C.) to give the Wasps the early advantage. The Wolves answered in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer from Henry Daniels to jump in front 2-1.

The Wasps tied things up in the top of the second. Back-to-back singles from first baseman Matthew Long (Willow Spring, N.C.) and senior outfielder Jermie Greene, Jr. (Troutman, N.C.) set the table for senior second baseman Noah Mazza (Plainfield, Ill.), who scored Greene Jr. on an RBI fielder's choice to make it 2-2. UWG loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the third, but junior right-hander Bryson Wagner (Salisbury, N.C.) struck out a batter and forced Wolves' cleanup hitter Anthony Calabro to hit into an inning-ending double play to dance out of danger. 

Greene Jr. led off the fourth with a single, moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt from freshman catcher Garrison Bullock (Concord, N.C.) and scored on an RBI double from fifth-year shortstop Mason Lyda (Mills River, N.C.) to push E&H back in front 3-2. Foley kept the scoring going with a two-out RBI knock up the middle to bring around Lyda and increase the Wasps' margin to 4-2. West Georgia erupted for five runs in the bottom of the fifth as they utilized three hits, three walks and a hit-by-pitch to retake the lead at 7-4. 

The Wolves broke the game open in the home half of the seventh as they sent 14 batters to the plate and pushed across 11 runs, capped off by a grand slam from Jackson Webb, to balloon their advantage to 18-4. The Wasps got one back in the top of the eighth on an RBI groundout from Greene Jr., but West Georgia took the game by an 18-5 margin to complete the sweep.

Chase Townsend earned the win on the mound for the Wolves, throwing five innings while allowing seven hits and four runs. Junior righty Hunter Kirkpatrick (Albany, Ore.) took the loss for E&H as he surrendered three runs, two hits and two walks in just one third of an inning. Five different Wasps recorded an RBI while Foley and Bradley each extended their hitting streaks, which have reached 11 and 12 games respectively. 

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